I have tried SO many Spanish programs!   For school "credit" I'd like to encourage you to remember how it was in school.    Did you finish the book?  Did you know the language?  As homeschoolers we tend to think the subject isn't done, or "covered" until it's mastered.  Not so with foreign languages. The first year is pretty much to get you familiar with the basics.  You'll "master" a few phrases but unless you really go the extra mile, it doesn't stick.  (This may be different for those with an aptitude for languages, but most people only remember about 5 phrases from high school foreign language.)

With that said, you may choose to really learn a language!     Be prepared to go beyond the program.  Label everything, speak it to one another whenever possible, insert palabras en sentences, "order dinner" by asking for the specific foods in the target language, turn your dvd's to the target language, etc.

Unless they've significantly revised their courses within the past few years, I would stay away from A Beka's foreign language programs.

There are inductive and deductive approaches to foreign language instruction.  Rosetta Stone takes an inductive approach.  Most (but not all) textbook programs tend to be more deductive.  We tried Rosetta Stone in two different languages with two different children, and the inductive, auditory, approach made them crazy.  That's not to say that Rosetta Stone is a bad program.  It was just a poor fit for my kids.  They both did better with a more deductive program.

We have now used BJUP's Spanish for three children.  It has worked well for them.  The strengths of BJUP include the fact that it has a strong audio component in addition to the text.  However, BJUP needs someone available who has some familiarity with Spanish.  Our homeschool group hired a Spanish tutor to use BJUP Spanish.  To help my youngest, I took a year of college Spanish a year or two ago.  That would have been sufficient for me to teach all of BJUP Spanish 1 and most, if not all, of BJUP Spanish 2.  We used a different program (for the older two kids) for Spanish 3, because BJUP's Spanish 3 didn't include an audio component at the time.

Just our experience, but HTH,

Caron

I'm SO glad to hear someone else talk about Speedy Spanish!  It's been one of my very favorite Spanish courses.  I LOVE that it's based around the Lord and teaches scripture in Spanish!  I just don't know how it would be counted "credit"-wise, but I do know that I got full credit for two years of Spanish in public school and came away knowing a handful of phrases.  (I probably do best with a workbook format also.)

Rosetta Stone has so many components to it that it great to have around for any time learning.  My favorite parts about it are that I can shut my eyes and just listen and then check my "answer" and that you can talk to it and it will judge your tone.